Relationship between duration of atrial fibrillation and right heart structure remodeling as assessed by 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography

Background —Tricuspid valve (TV) remodeling occurs in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF); however, the affecting factor related to TV remodeling in AF remains to be elucidated. We sought to explore whether the AF persistence itself affects right heart remodeling.Methods—A total of 372 lone AF patients (234 paroxysmal AF [paroxAF] and 138 persistent AF [persAF]) who underwent 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3D-TEE) was retrospectively reviewed. The duration from first-detected episode of AF to the TEE exam date was defined as AF duration.
Source: International Journal of Cardiology - Category: Cardiology Authors: Source Type: research